How to Start a Flower Garden For Centerpieces

If you’re intrigued about starting a flower garden for centerpieces, follow these steps and suggestions to creating your very own cut flower heaven.

3 Steps to Create a Cutting Flower Garden

Prepare the Garden Planting Site

Choose a location on your property that gets the required amount of sun for the flowers you want to grow — most cutting flowers need as much sun as you can give them. Remove the weeds (especially the roots), and add a good deal of organic matter (aren’t you glad you started that compost pile?). Flowers are heavy feeders because of all of their fabulosity, so make sure your soil is as full of nutrition as it can be.

Plant Cutting Flowers

Cutting flowers can be annuals or perennials, and can be established by seed, bulb, or transplants. If you choose to sow seeds or plant bulbs, be sure you’re doing so at the correct time for your area — the information will be on the seed or bulb packet itself, but you can also ask your County Extension Office. Garden center transplants will be more expensive but will provide more instant gratification. Ensure that the plants you are choosing have the same growing requirements in terms of sun and water.

15 Cut Flower Garden Do’s & Don’ts

In this video Kim, a long-time flower & hobby gardener in Washington Zone 8b, shares 15 cut flower garden dos & don’ts that will help you avoid some common pitfalls & enjoy beautiful blooms for years to come.

Whether your garden is big or small, make the most of your space with these tips and watch the full 15 Cut Flower Garden Do’s & Dont’s video on the Kellogg Garden Youtube Channel.

Maintain Cutting Garden Flowers

Mulch lightly to discourage weeds, and water weekly unless you’ve had good recent rainfall. Remember, it’s better to water less frequently but more deeply to ensure healthy roots. And keep cutting — the more you cut, the more prolific your plants will bloom.

The Best Flowers for Cutting

Flowers that Look & Smell Great

Not only are flowers beautiful, but many varieties smell good as well. You don’t have to compromise, have a centerpiece that smells as beautiful as it looks!

The following five flowers are great if you have a warm, sunny location: 

(These are all annuals which also give you beautiful color and will bloom all summer)

1. Sweet Alyssum is a low-growing flower that is great to put next to your walkway. Hardy and easy to grow, the small white or purple flowers have an amazing odor that wafts through the air.

2. Stock is a medium-sized flower that comes in many colors. Stock has a wonderful clove scent.

3. Lavender is a wonderful flower that is often used in sachets and flavoring for food. They retain their sweet smell even after drying.

4. Carnations are not just for prom! They are an easy to grow flower that comes in many vibrant colors and has a delightful scent.

5. Petunias are a hardy bedding plant and do well along walkways. Petunias have a strong unique scent that perfumes the air around them.

The following flowers are great if you have a shady or partly shady location:

1. Lily of the Valley is a native forest plant. The small bell-shaped flowers are pink or white and combine with beautiful foliage.

2. Heliotrope has a wonderful cherry fragrance and is often referred to as a cherry pie plant. This plant also is a butterfly attractor. Some varieties of Heliotrope get two feet tall and quite bushy, so plan accordingly.

3. Hosta is a popular shade foliage plant that also produces sweet-smelling flowers on tall spikes. Some hostas have more fragrance than others, so check the tag or read the description first.

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